Hixson-Lied Visiting Artist series continues this evening, Feb. 13
Ella Weber will present the next Hixson-Lied Visiting Artist & Scholar Lecture on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 5:30 p.m. at Sheldon Museum of Art’s Ethel S. Abbott Auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public.
The School of Art, Art History & Design’s Hixson-Lied Visiting Artist & Scholar Lecture Series brings notable artists, scholars and designers to Nebraska each semester to enhance the education of students. The series is presented in collaboration with Sheldon Museum of Art.
Weber, a University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumna (B.F.A. 2010), is a basement-based artist who uses humor, performance and storytelling within her practice. Her debut novel, “The Deli Diaries,” is published with Latah Books.
Playfully upending the existential fabrics of daily life, Weber transforms her minimum-wage day jobs into her studio. Across the counter and screen, Weber blurs the line between employee and customer, performance and reality, art and life. Trained in printmaking, Weber received an M.F.A. from the University of Kansas and her B.F.A. from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
She has attended residencies including MASS MoCA, The NARS Foundation, Rogers Art Loft, PrattMWP, Ox-Bow School of Art, The Wassaic Project, Signal Culture, PLAYA, Jentel, Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts and Anderson Ranch.
Her recent solo exhibitions include the Plains Art Museum (Fargo, North Dakota), The Union for Contemporary Art (Omaha, Nebraska), and Munson (Utica, New York). Her recent group exhibitions include the Everson Museum (Syracuse, New York) Contemporary Art Center (Cincinnati, Ohio) IPCN! Y (New York, New York), among several others.
Most significantly, she accidentally completed a 10-week community college course, titled “How to Be a Stand-Up Comedian” with her dad.
View her work on her website at https://www.ellaweber.com.
The remaining lectures in the series are:
• Feb. 20: Adrian Armstrong. Armstrong’s (B.F.A. 2014) multidisciplinary practice encompasses drawing, painting, printmaking, installation, sound, and other mixed-media elements and documents the contemporary Black experiences in the United States. View his work at http://adrianarmstrongart.com.
• March 6: Michael Krueger. Krueger is a professor in the Department of Visual Art at the University of Kansas. Grounded firmly in drawing, he works in a variety of media, including painting, drawing, printmaking, animation and ceramics. View his work on Instagram @michael_krueger_studio.
• March 13: Margaret LeJeune. LeJeune’s creative practice explores the relationship between art, science and environmental studies. In 2023, she was named the Woman Science Photographer of the Year by the Royal Photographic Society. View her work at https://www.margaretlejeune.com.
• March 27: Vera Iliatova. Iliatova’s work employs metaphors of landscape and interior spaces and female figures that meld together in oddly disconnected perspectives. View her work at https://vera-iliatova.com.
• April 3: Tony Orrico. Orrico is a visual and performing artist whose record of exhibitions spans five continents. He is assistant professor of dance and sculpture/intermedia at the University of Iowa. View his work at https://tonyorrico.com.
• April 9: Jack Davis and Sharon Stocker. Richards Hall Rm. 15. Davis and Stocker are a husband-and-wife team of University of Cincinnati archaeologists. They were part of an international team of archaeologists led by UC that recently discovered a Bronze Age warrior’s tomb in southwestern Greece filled with more than 1,400 objects.
• April 10: Jaque Fragua. Fragua is a Native American artist known for his powerful and thought-provoking works. His artistic practice encompasses a diverse range of mediums, including studio painting, mural creation, sculpture, installation and public art. See his work at https://www.mobilsavage.com/
• April 17: Amanda Maciuba. Co-sponsored by the Great Plains Art Museum. Maciuba’s work is concerned with the landscapes, communities, development practices and environmental practices throughout the U.S. Her solo exhibition, “Watershed,” will be on view at the Great Plains Museum from April 4-Sept. 20, and she will be the Elizabeth Rubendall Artist-in-Residence from April 8-19. A reception will take place in the Great Plains Art Museum immediately following the lecture at Sheldon. View her work at https://www.amandamaciuba.com.
• April 24: Norman Akers. Akers’ work is included in the spring exhibition “Exploding Native Inevitable,” at Sheldon Museum of Art. Akers is associate professor in the Department of Visual Art at the University of Kansas. As a Native American artist, he explores issues of identity, culture (including Osage mythos), place, and the dynamics of personal and cultural transformation in his work. View his work at https://normanakers.com.
Underwritten by the Hixson-Lied Endowment with additional support from other sources, the series enriches the culture of the state by providing a way for Nebraskans to interact with luminaries in the fields of art, art history and design. Each visiting artist or scholar spends one to three days on campus to meet with classes, participate in critiques and give demonstrations.
For more information on the series, contact the School of Art, Art History & Design at (402) 472-5522 or e-mail schoolaahd@unl.edu.